Moving the Visual Area at once

Question

Is there a shortcut to move the Visual area as a whole?

For instance, after entering Visual mode linewise to make the next line selected.

Right now this is achieved by:

• V Start Visual mode linewise
• j move one line down -> now 2 lines are selected
• o select the other end
• j move that end one line down -> finally only next line selected

Is there a shortcut that achieves the same effect as the joj sequence.

I know how to create a mapping, I am asking if there is a default shortcut.

Answer 1

You can create a mapping for this:

:vnoremap <C-j> jojo
:vnoremap <C-k> koko

In this case I mapped it in visual mode to Ctrl+j and Ctrl+k

Answer 2

There’s no shortcut I'm aware of, but Vim does have a feature that allows you to move a visual selection. It's not useful for the specific use-case described, but it might be for moves of larger selections.

The output of :help V explains:

With [count] select the same number of lines as used for the last Visual operation, but at the current cursor position, multiplied by [count].

So you can move a linewise visual selection with the following sequence:

1. Pressing y to perform a “Visual operation”,
2. Using whichever of Vim’s motions are the most convenient/efficient to move the cursor to the first line of the location where you want the selection to be moved to.
3. Pressing 1V to re-enter Visual mode with the same number of lines selected.

This obviously stores the previously selected text in the yank and unnamed registers. If this is not desirable, you can prevent it by using "_y to yank into the black hole register instead.

The other commands to enter visual mode also take counts, so you can use this technique for characterwise or blockwise selections, too.

Answer 3

If you're amenable to a plugin, perhaps this is an option:

vim-move